Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

This weekend I went home to Jersey! Can you believe I spent just as much time at the beach over the past four days as I have over the whole summer? The weather was absolute perfection. Of course, dinner on the BBQ is a must and my mom’s grilled pizza was at the top of our list.

We started with dough from J & M Bakery. Usually I make my own but this pizza dough is my favorite and I can only get it when I go home! We tossed and rolled individual pies so everyone could pick and choose toppings.

Then we pre-assembled all the ingredients. This step is important because you have to move very fast once you have the dough on the grill. First, we grabbed Ragu pizza sauce, which is much thicker and more traditional tasting than most jarred sauces.

Lots of mozzarella cheese!

Mushrooms, red bell peppers, and fresh basil to top the pies.

Wine of course!

We used cooking spray to grease up the grill. Mom says “don’t try this part at home…” even though she was technically giving me a tutorial on how to make grilled pizza…! Later we made pizza round 2 and sprayed the grill before turning up the heat and it worked just fine.

Next, lay the pizza dough onto the hottest part of the grill. You can pop the bubbles quickly if its rising up.

The tricky part is, you have to be fast! The bottom only needs to cook for about 45 seconds – 1 minute, until the dough is lightly browned with grill marks.

Flip the dough, moving it to the cooler part of the grill. Quickly add sauce, basil, cheese, and toppings!

Finally, close the grill and let the pizza cook. It only takes a few minutes for the cheese to melt completely and for the dough to cook through. Whatever you do, don’t let it sit too long. This is one meal you don’t want to walk away from!